Communion Forest newsletter - March 2025

Published: Fri, 03/07/25

Updated: Fri, 03/07/25

THE LATEST FROM THE COMMUNION FOREST

The launch of the Communion Forest. Image:

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We'd love to hear about your experiences! Please share your stories and photos of tree growing, ecosystem conservation, protection, and restoration with us, and we may feature them on our social media pages.

communionforest@anglicancommunion.org

Blessed Lenten Season!

With the Lenten season underway, we hope that you are finding moments of peace and introspection. We are particularly inspired by this year's Lent Fast by the Green Anglicans in the Anglican Church of Southern Africa, called SUSTAINABLE SHIFT - The carbon fast for the Earth. This guide offers a 40-day journey through practical applications that individuals can take to reduce their carbon footprint.

Click here to download the calendar and follow along on their Facebook page

This year promises to be a fruitful one, filled with exciting news and informative webinars. You'll find more details later in this newsletter. We are dedicated to providing you with valuable resources to support your vital work in tree growing and ecosystem conservation, preservation, and restoration.

In this edition, you'll find:

Introducing Rev. Dr. Rodrigo Espiuca.

RESTOR: Mapping your Communion Forest Activities.

A special thank you to our supporters.

Partners in Carbon Sequestration.

Farmer-Managed Natural Regeneration (FMNR).

16th Conference of Parties to the UN Convention on Biodiversity (CBD COP16).
Donate to the Communion Forest.

We hope this newsletter provides you with inspiration and valuable insights as you continue your important environmental work.

Introducing Rev. Dr. Rodrigo Espiuca

Rodrigo is the principal point of contact for the Communion Forest and its activities as they relate to the Americas, especially the Spanish and Portuguese-speaking countries of Latin America. By having a regional facilitator who speaks Spanish, Portuguese and English, Rodrigo’s appointment will enable the region to be more naturally connected into the Communion Forest and invested in it. It will also enable us to sustain Spanish and Portuguese as routine languages of the Communion Forest.

RESTOR: Mapping your Communion Forest

What is Restor? Restor is a powerful mapping tool that can help anyone across the world map their ecosystem conservation, protection and restoration initiatives.

Why is Communion Forest in partnership with Restor?

To advance restoration by bringing together a global network of actors for the exchange of data, funding, and local knowledge.

Join the Communion Forest Collection

Why? To join with other Anglicans to map and share with the world the efforts of the church in tree growing and ecosystem conservation, protection and restoration.

Learn more

Funding opportunities on Restor

Communion Forest is keen to support your tree-growing and ecosystem conservation, protection and restoration projects by connecting you with potential funding opportunities. We encourage you to explore available options on our partner website, Restor – click link, as well as keep you informed about other funding avenues through our email updates and social media channels.

A special thank you to our supporters

The Anglican Communion Fund (ACF) has provided funding over the last two and half years, which has been immensely important in sustaining the initiative and enabling it to flourish.

Westminster Abbey has also provided a generous grant, as well as giving visibility to the Communion Forest through its summer exhibition in the iconic setting of its Chapter House.

We are also extremely grateful to the Primate’s World Relief and Development Fund / Alongside Hope, Canada, who have recently given us funding to take on a facilitator for the Americas, with a particular focus on Latin America.

Partners in Carbon Sequestration

We are very pleased to share the good news that the first pilot project in our Partners in Carbon Sequestration initiative has been agreed and started.

Anglican Development Services (ADS), Kenya has developed a pilot tree growing project for carbon sequestration at two sites: St Andrew’s Church, Ukia and the Anglican Church of Kenya’s Makueni Complex, both in Makueni County, Kenya.

The project has been awarded the Climate Stewards’ Seal of Approval, meaning it meets the rigorous standards and criteria necessary to qualify as a high-quality tree-growing project funded by carbon offsets. Providing the tree growth proceeds as anticipated, the project sites are expected to sequester (lock up) 400 tonnes of carbon (known as carbos) over the lifetime of the project.

FMNR - Farmer Managed Natural Regeneration

Is there hope for cut down trees? Farmer-Managed Natural Regeneration (FMNR) is a technique which involves systematic regeneration, management and regrowth of trees and shrubs from felled tree stumps, roots and seedlings.

On Tuesday, February 25th, the Communion Forest held a webinar on introduction to FMNR.

Follow this story on our website

Watch the video by clicking the play button below or Click Here.

16th Conference of Parties to the UN Convention on Biodiversity (CBD COP16)

"The Communion Forest gives credibility to the Anglican Communion’s advocacy in spaces such as the CBD. It shows we are not just telling other people what they should be doing – we are ourselves working for change and to be part of the solution", Nicholas Pande.

For the first time since gaining observer status at the United Nations Convention on Biodiversity in 2021, the Anglican Communion had an in-person delegation to the 16th Conference of Parties to the UN Convention on Biodiversity (CBD). One of the delegates was Nicholas Pande, the environment policy lead of the Anglican Communion’s UN team and Communion Forest facilitator.

Help fund us and join in this adventure!

The Communion Forest is a practical, symbolic and spiritual response to the environmental crisis and an act of Christian hope for the well-being of the earth and all its creatures. Please help fund us and join in this adventure!

You can donate securely here

Anglican Communion Office,
16 Tavistock Crescent
London London W11 1AP
UNITED KINGDOM

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